Michael Billigton OBE is a British author and theatre critic. He was born in Leamington Spa in 1939 and attended Warwick School, an independent school for boys. In 1961, he graduated from St Catherine’s College, Oxford. He then worked as an arts critic, a public liaison officer, and director before reviewing television, films, and plays for The Times. In 1971, Billington became The Guardian’s theatre critic. He has also reviewed plays for radio and television programmes. His work as a director includes Pinter’s Party Time and Celebration with students from the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art in 2008.

Billington is the authorised biographer of Harold Pinter and author of several biographical and critical studies in the field of theatre and the arts, including books about Peggy Ashcroft and Tom Stoppard.

He was made an Honorary Fellow of St Catherine’s College, Oxford in 2005 and received an Honorary Doctorate by the University of Warwick in 2009. In 2013, Billington was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire for services to the theatre.